


Baby, there's no one better than you

by ceeayeess



Category: Hit the Floor (TV)
Genre: Birthday Fluff, Birthday Smut, Declarations Of Love, Established Relationship, Jealous Zero, M/M, Oblivious Jude Kinkade, Possessive Behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-11-23
Packaged: 2018-08-29 04:35:31
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8475598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceeayeess/pseuds/ceeayeess
Summary: Someone takes interest in Jude. Zero is jealous. Jude is oblivious, and just really wants to seal this sponsorship deal and find the perfect birthday gift for Zero.





	1. All in a morning's work

**Author's Note:**

> This fic stemmed from my deep love of jealous!Zero and clueless!Jude. It may get explicit in the final chapter (oh, who am I kidding...it's definitely going to get explicit), but for now, just enjoy the boys being cute and silly and in love. I currently have material planned for three chapters, but I'm prone to long-windedness and letting my imagination run away with me, so that might change as the story progresses. As usual, feedback is very much appreciated.

Jude didn’t think he was anything particularly out of the ordinary. Objectively, he knew he wasn’t bad to look at, he was in good shape, and he did draw the appreciative gaze or two occasionally. Keyword being occasionally. He was no Zero, that was for sure.

Zero was everything he wasn’t, all smouldering bedroom eyes and a body that looked like it was sculpted from marble, with the swagger and attitude to match. Even now, almost a year since they had went public, even after Zero’s many over-the-top declarations (and demonstrations) of love, Jude sometimes still felt the urge to pinch himself, just to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. That he, high-strung, neurotic, boring Jude Kinkade, had snagged this gorgeous hunk of a man and had actually managed to keep him hanging around for this long.

Yup, Jude Kinkade was one hell of a lucky guy and he knew it. And with Zero’s birthday approaching, Jude was determined to find the perfect present for him. Something that would show Zero just how much Jude loved him, and that Zero hadn’t made the wrong choice settling for Jude when he could have his pick of any of the stunning women and men who constantly flung themselves at Zero.

The problem was that Zero, being one of the top basketball players of his generation, and with more than a few multi-million dollar endorsements to boot, was obscenely wealthy. The man could easily get his hands on anything he wanted, no matter how rare or expensive or ridiculous, with a flash of his credit card or just by dropping his name. Jude for the life of him could not think of a single thing that Zero could possibly need.

It didn’t help that Zero had recently celebrated Jude’s birthday for him in such a grand fashion that Jude felt slightly faint every time he thought about how he could possibly top, or even equal it. They had flown to a private island in the Bahamas and spent two wine-soaked, sex-filled nights in a sprawling three-storey villa with its personal butler and chef. The memory of some of the things they had done – that Zero had made Jude do – still made Jude blush.

Jude pouted and resisted the urge to flop face down onto his desk in defeat. Never let it be said that Jude Kinkade was a quitter. He would persevere, and somehow manage to whip up the best ever birthday celebration Zero could ever have.

He was abruptly drawn out of his musings when his secretary called up to inform him of a visit from a potential new sponsor for the Devils. Jude got her to let the guy in, and psyched himself up for the discussion ahead. Lava was a relatively new player in the e-commerce industry, but had rapidly became one of the biggest names in the business. Having them on board as a sponsor would be a massive boost for the Devils, and Jude would happily sell one of his kidneys if it meant sealing the deal.

Today’s meeting was with Wesley McDermitt, one of the founders and Chief Operating Officer of Lava. Jude had done his due diligence and read every single article he could find on the guy before reaching out to him. Much to Jude’s chagrin and grudging respect, McDermitt seemed to a private person whose personal life stayed firmly that way. There were plenty of interviews and articles about McDermitt in the media, and while he was clearly articulate, intelligent, and photographed well, it was damn near impossible to really get a read on him. Which had Jude a little on edge for the talks ahead, but Jude was no shrinking violet, and he refused to be intimidated.

“ Good morning,” McDermitt said as he shook Jude’s hand.

“Good morning, Mr McDermitt,” Jude said formally. “How are you?”

McDermitt snorted and rolled his eyes. “Wes will do. Mr McDermitt makes me feel like some old fart nearing retirement.”

So far, so good. The other man didn’t take himself too seriously and apparently had a sense of humour. Jude relaxed slightly. “In that case, please call me Jude,” he relented.

“Jude. Beautiful name, suits you perfectly,” Wes smiled, and Jude blinked, thrown by the sudden compliment. His eyes searched Wes’ face for any sign of irony, but Wes’ eyes were open and warm and he seemed completely genuine in his compliment.

“I never really thought of it that way,” Jude demurred, wanting to put an end to the small talk and get down to business. “I believe you have read our proposal?”

“Of course,” Wes smoothed his tie down as he leaned forward, all business now. “You definitely drive a hard bargain. I might be amendable to some of the things you are proposing, but we need to have another look at some of the details…”

\--------

A few hours later, the discussion was wrapped up and Jude was feeling good. It had been a fruitful meeting and he almost certainly had this sponsorship in the bag.

“Thank you so much for your time, Wes,” Jude said sincerely. “You won’t regret this, I guarantee it.”

“With you at the helm, I know I can rest easy,” Wes winked. “Now, get that proposal reworked for me, and we will chat again.”

“Of course, I will just get my secretary…”

“What about next week?” Wes smoothly interjected. “Same day, same time.”

Jude hesitated. “It would be better if –"

“I know you are a busy man, Jude. We both are. But we can agree that this partnership would be a fantastic opportunity for both Lava and the Devils, and we need to nail it down as soon as possible, yes?”

Jude briefly considered protesting, if only to show Wes that he was no pushover, but the other man was right. There was no benefit to be had by both parties if this was dragged out any longer than it had to be, and if there was any clash on his schedule, he could always have Leslie shift things around. “Sounds good.”

“I’ll call you,” Wes grinned and stood up, waving off Jude’s offer to walk him out. “No worries, Jude. I’m a big boy, I can make my way out myself.”

Jude nodded graciously and watched as Wes strutted out of his office. The man definitely knew how to make an exit. Jude hadn’t noticed it earlier on, too caught up in thrashing out the finer details of the sponsorship agreement, but thinking back on how Wes talked, moved and carried himself, there were certain similarities between him and a particular cock of the walk basketball player Jude knew and loved. Jude briefly indulged himself imagining a corporate bigwig version of Zero, complete with power suit and briefcase, and had to hold back a giggle.

Jude took a look at the time. It was nearing two. Perfect, most restaurants that opened for lunch would still be serving customers at this time, and he wouldn’t have to fight through the peak hour office crowd to get his food. He shot Lionel a text asking her if she was free to meet for lunch, and grinned when Lionel replied almost immediately.

_Yes, please. I could use a drink. Or four._

_Lionel, it’s 2pm._

_Booze is an appropriate beverage for any time of the day, little Kinkade. See you in ten at Larry’s._

Fifteen minutes later, Jude and Lionel were indulging themselves in a rare lunch out on a weekday. Jude was having steak and a Coke, and Lionel, true to her word, had ordered white wine to go with her salad. She had declined Jude’s offer to lend a listening ear for whatever grievances she had, instead demanding to know how Jude’s meeting had went.

“I have to say, that does not sound like McDermitt. He’s notoriously difficult to please and not to mention stingy with his money,” Lionel pointed a forkful of kale at Jude accusingly. “Be honest now. Did you flash him some cleavage? Let him grope your ass?”

Jude turned bright red and had to resist the urge to look around furtively to make sure nobody had overheard. “No! Oh my god, Lionel.”

Lionel patted him on his hand. Jude wasn’t sure if the gesture was meant to be reassuring or mocking. “There’s no shame in doing what you have to. In this line, we sometimes have to rely on our feminine wiles to get ahead,” she cast an assessing eye over Jude, “Or masculine wiles.”

“There was no such thing,” Jude scowled. “I am good at my job, and besides, I am pretty sure McDermitt would have decked me if I tried.”

Lionel’s expression turned almost fond. “He swings for your team. He would _not_ deck you. Trust me.”

“How do you even know? There’s nothing about his private life in the media.”

“Jude, that man is a Harvard graduate, co-founder of the Lava empire, and looks like an underwear model. Women all over the world are dying to get into his pants, yet he’s never been rumoured to have a girlfriend, or even an ex-girlfriend. Doesn’t that clue you in about something?”

“That he’s a workaholic and doesn’t have time to date? Or maybe he wants to keep his personal life out of the limelight?” Jude suggested mildly.

“Wrong _and_ wrong. Seriously, aren’t you gay? Don’t you people have this thing called gaydar?”

“Well, you are always telling me what a lousy gay I am, so there’s that. And besides, I am also happily and very publicly attached,” – Jude emphasized the word ‘attached’ – “and McDermitt knows that, I am sure.”

Lionel took a delicate sip of her wine. “Everyone knows that, Jude. McDermitt isn’t going to back off just because his target has a boyfriend. I know his type. He’s used to getting what he wants.”

“For goodness sake, Lionel,” Jude sensed that he needed to take control of the conversation right now, before it got out of hand. “How did we go from talking about a sponsorship deal to discussing Wesley McDermitt’s sexuality to debating his apparent attraction to me? Even if he is gay, I’m not his type, okay? Let’s just stop here and never, ever talk about this again.”

Lionel shrugged. “Fine. Just don’t blame me for not warning you when Zero decides to punch McDermitt’s lights out for making a move on you.”

“ _Lionel._ ”

Fortunately, Lionel’s attention was successfully diverted when Jude brought up the topic of Zero’s upcoming birthday and his gift buying dilemma. Unfortunately, because Lionel was the worst, Jude barely had a few seconds of reprieve before she was slyly suggesting that Jude give Zero a striptease for his birthday.

Jude put his knife and fork down with finality. “Lionel, no.”

“You don’t have to be shy. You’re a handsome man, and there isn’t anything that Zero hasn’t seen before –"

Jude rubbed his temples, and wished, not for the first time over the course of knowing Lionel, that he had more discerning taste in friends.


	2. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter comes with an extra dosage of Zero, because I love me some Zero but couldn't find a way to actually write him into the first chapter.

Watching Zero practice was one of Jude’s favorite things to do in the world, right up there alongside having Zero spooned up behind him in bed cuddling him, having sex with Zero, and making out with Zero. It should probably alarm Jude how his few top favorite pastimes all involved Zero in some shape or form, but Jude was a man in love, and he didn’t care. 

Pete blew his whistle, signaling the end of practice, and the players all began drifting off in different directions. Most of them headed to the locker room, and the few who had people waiting for them made their way towards the bleachers, Zero included. Jude waved at Zero, beaming as the other man strutted towards him, shirtless and muscles glistening with sweat. 

“You made it,” Zero grinned and leaned forward for a kiss. Jude deliberately withheld his usual kiss hello, enjoying the sight of Zero with his eyes closed and his lips puckered up for a smooch.

After a while, Zero realized that the kiss wasn’t coming, and he opened his eyes to look at Jude in confusion. “Jackass,” he said affectionately when he saw the laughter in Jude’s eyes. Then one of Zero’s large hands came up to cup the back of Jude’s head, pulling him close and pressing their lips together, and whatever witty quip Jude had was momentarily lost in thoughts of _mmm, yes, don’t stop, mmm_. 

Remembering that they were in a very public place, and not wanting pictures of their PDA making it onto the front page news of every gossip magazine in LA, Jude pulled away reluctantly. “Wouldn’t want to miss the view,” he replied, breathless both from the close proximity of Zero and their kiss. 

“I could give you a closer look tonight,” Zero purred, leaning forward as though he was intending to capture Jude’s lips with his own again, and Jude quickly pressed his hand against Zero’s chest to push him away, his heart doing a little flip when his palm came in contact with Zero’s warm, moist, _bare_ skin.

“Tonight’s tonight. Dinner first. I’m starving.”

Zero laughed and shook his head. “There you go again. Always leaving me hanging,” he licked his lips and looked at Jude, heat in his eyes. “I need a shower. Join me?” 

“And give your teammates a free show?”

Zero winked. “Exhibitionism not your thing, Jude?”

“No, some things are for my eyes only,” the words popped out of Jude’s mouth before he could really think them through, and he felt his cheeks heat up when his brain registered what he had said. But judging from the low growl that had just emitted from Zero, he hadn’t minded one bit.

“Give me ten minutes,” Zero said as he headed for the locker room. “Meanwhile, you should start thinking about what we’re going to have for dinner, because you’re going to need plenty of energy for what we’re doing tonight.”

\-------

That night, after they had both eaten their weight in sushi and had fucked long and slow on the bathroom countertop, the problem of Zero’s birthday present began niggling at Jude again.

They were lounging in bed, Zero idly flipping through a magazine, and Jude using his mobile phone to send out some emails about the stakeholders’ meeting next morning. After hitting the send button, Jude put his phone down and looked over at Zero, biting his lip, unsure about how to breach the subject.

“I know I’m hot, Jude, but we got off literally twenty minutes ago,” Zero drawled without looking up from his magazine.

Jude smacked Zero’s bare arm. “I was just thinking,” he began, then paused.

Zero sat up in bed and tossed the magazine to one side, seeming to sense that something was bothering Jude. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked, reaching out to take Jude’s hand in his own. 

Jude squeezed Zero’s hand reassuringly, seeing the worried look on his face. “Nothing bad happened, okay? But your birthday is coming up, and I-was-wondering-if-there’s-anything-you-want-so-I-can-get-it-for-you,” he said, his last few words coming out in a rushed jumble.

Zero threw his head back and laughed. “Really? That’s what has gotten your panties up in a twist, Jude?”

Jude scowled and began to yank his hand out from Zero’s, but Zero just grinned and tightened his grip, using the leverage to pull Jude into his arms. Annoyance forgotten, Jude promptly melted against Zero’s chest, enjoying the feel of Zero’s strong arms around him. 

“Look Jude, it’s just a birthday. You can buy me a goddamn island, or a birthday card, or just present yourself to me wearing nothing but a big red bow. Whatever is it, I’m going to love it, because it is from _you_ , and anything from you is worth more than all the diamonds and Porsches in the world,” Zero pulled back slightly so he could gaze into Jude’s eyes. “Are we clear about that?”

Jude smiled. “Crystal.”

“Perfect,” Zero kissed the top of his head, then maneuvered them so that they were lying down in bed, and they snuggled together in companionable silence for a while. Jude was slowly but surely losing himself in the warmth and scent of Zero and starting to drift off to sleep, when Zero spoke up. 

“But, if you really must know, I wouldn’t object to having you in nothing except a red bow for my birthday.”

Jude lifted his head from where it was tucked below Zero’s chin to look at him, expecting to see his eyes glinting in mischief, maybe even a smirk on his face. But all he saw in Zero’s expression was…lust? 

“I suppose,” Jude’s voice caught on the word _suppose_ , so he cleared his throat and tried again, “I suppose that would be an easy enough present to prepare.” 

Zero nodded solemnly, even as Jude felt Zero shifting his arm from where it was wrapped around Jude’s waist so he could reach down to fondle his ass. “Need to make sure the present is something I can actually use though. Mind if I try it out first?”

“Thought we got off literally twenty minutes ago,” Jude said, quoting Zero from earlier. His breath hitched as Zero slipped a finger between his cheeks to rub his hole, still wet and loose from the sex in the bathroom.

Zero mouthed at Jude’s ear and bit it gently, making Jude shudder. “I lied.”

Jude could only groan and clutch at Zero’s shoulders as Zero pushed him into the mattress and began trailing a line of kisses down his body.

\-------

The next week passed by in a blur of work, work, and more work. Jude and Zero still made an effort to have dinner together, and those nights with Zero became a lifeline for Jude, an oasis of calm amidst the storm of emails, meetings and deadlines that had taken over his life.

Jude was in the office, finally – _finally_ – done with the amendments to the Devils-Lava sponsorship proposal that Wesley McDermitt had asked for, when his phone rang. He grabbed the phone from the desk to answer it, not bothering to look at the caller ID. 

“Jude Kinkade,” he said distractedly as his eyes scanned the document for typos.

“Hey, it’s Wes here.”

Jude perked up. “Oh hey Wes, I was just going to send you an email to confirm tomorrow’s meeting. Everything has been edited and we should be able to get this settled pretty soon.”

Wes laughed. “Five seconds into my call, and you are already talking my ear off about business. No ‘how are you’ or ‘how is it going, Wes’? Is our relationship so transactional, Jude?” 

Jude laughed as well, but more out of politeness than real mirth. “I can get like this when I have a meeting with a major sponsor in less than twenty-four hours, yes,” he replied. “Call it a side-effect of the job.”

“Don’t worry about it. I was just being an ass. I’m actually calling to talk to you about that. About tomorrow – I want you to come over to our headquarters for the meeting. If we are going to do this partnership right, it is only proper that the Devils EVP sees for himself just how we operate at Lava.”

Jude frowned. He might be relatively new to his position as EVP, but this wasn’t the first sponsorship deal he had brokered, and this was the first time any sponsor had made this particular demand. He opened his mouth, ready to question the legitimacy of Wes’ request, but Wes must have been reading his mind, because he smoothly continued where he had left off before Jude could get a word in edgewise.

“I know it sounds unorthodox, but I’ll be frank here. I might be the COO but I’m hardly the one with the biggest say in Lava. I have been pitching this sponsorship to my CEO and the board of directors since day one, and it would be a huge boost to my cause if you show up tomorrow in person, show us all your sincerity in wanting to make this happen. Makes my job convincing them easier.”

“Fair enough,” Jude clicked open his calendar. He had nothing else scheduled for the next morning, so there would be more than enough time for him to make the drive down to the Lava main office. He would just have to drop by the office earlier to clear his emails and any other outstanding work before that. “I’ll see you tomorrow then, in your office.”

“Great. Look forward to seeing you. I’m sure we’ll be getting to know each other better.”

Jude was about to reply when he realized that Wes had already hung up. 

\-------

Jude made sure he arrived bright and early for the meeting the next day. A little too early, perhaps, because Wes wasn’t even in yet. Wes’ secretary ushered him into the office despite his insistence that he was perfectly fine waiting at the reception area until Wes arrived.

Feeling rather awkward and out of place, Jude sat down gingerly on the expensive looking leather couch near the door, and nearly moaned in delight at how plush and comfortable it was. Jude himself had a pretty cushy office – one of the perks of being EVP – but Wes’ put his to shame. Everything, from the massive oak table to the ergonomic egg chairs to the abstract looking artwork on the walls, looked like it had been picked out by a professional interior designer. Jude, being a bit of a pack rat himself, was particularly impressed by how neat and organized everything was. Other than the papers strewn haphazardly in front of the iMac, there was barely any clutter anywhere else. 

Not wanting to waste a single moment, Jude took his laptop out of his briefcase and busied himself with setting it up, pulling up the proposal so that Wes could take a look at it the moment he stepped through the door. He had also prepared hard copies of the document, and he was so occupied with sorting through those that he jumped when the door was suddenly pushed open.

Whatever greeting was at the tip of Jude’s tongue died when Wes stepped into the office. The other man was wearing nothing but a pair of loose workout shorts that rode low on his hips and a towel slung around his neck, giving Jude a front seat view of his ludicrously defined abs, chest, and arms. Jude’s eyes darted around wildly, not sure where to look – or not to look. Finally, he settled for staring at Wes’ face as he stammered out a greeting. 

“Hey. Looks like someone is eager to see me,” Wes smirked.

Jude gulped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Jude has found himself in a rather awkward situation. How's he going to deal with this one, I wonder? ;)


	3. Feeling the heat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember what I said about this being three chapters? Well, looks like that isn't going to be the case anymore...

“Uh, yeah. I came here early. Wanted to beat the rush hour traffic,” Jude hoped that he didn’t sound half as awkward as he felt. Wes was a handsome man, there was no doubt about that, but Jude only had eyes for one particular cocky, devil-may-care blond basketball player.

Wes, for his part, appeared completely at ease with his state of undress, walking over to his desk and tossing his towel onto it before turning around to face Jude, smirk still firmly in place. “It’s great that you have such a strong work ethic, Jude. Appreciate it, honestly. But, I just got back from the gym, and I’m smelling and feeling pretty ripe now. Give me ten minutes, let me grab a shower. Then we can talk.”

Jude nodded. “Sure.”

“Cool. Make yourself at home.”

\---------

To Jude’s relief, Wes emerged from his en suite bathroom fully dressed. They got down to business quickly, perusing Jude’s proposal and debating the finer details of the sponsorship with fierce intensity. Jude was pleased to discover that Wes, while a strict taskmaster and fussy right down to even the smallest detail, could also flexible when the situation called for it, willing to compromise and step back on certain things, much like Jude himself.

However, that also meant that their discussion ended up taking a good few hours, and before Jude knew it, hours had ticked by. He leaned back in his chair and tried to stretch his legs out discreetly. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally, but it was the good kind of exhaustion, tinged with the satisfaction of a productive day of work. 

It seemed that his attempt to be discreet hadn’t been too successful, though. “Getting tired of me already?” Wes grinned.

Jude smiled back weakly, unsure if Wes was truly offended or if he was just joking. “Nah, just needed to stretch. You happen to have a coffee machine somewhere in this monster of an office?”

Wes stood up. “I’m not a slave driver, Jude. No way am I letting you have coffee for lunch. Can’t have the EVP of the Devils organization keeling over in my office. There’s a little café just across the road that serves amazing sandwiches, wanna grab a bite there?” 

“Yeah, sure.”

Jude had said that assuming that when Wes said _grab a bite_ he actually meant that they would literally run across the road, grab some sandwiches for takeaway and head back to the office. Instead, Wes had signaled to the waitress to get them two seats by the window, then made himself comfortable in his seat, grabbing a menu and perusing it carefully.

Oh well. Jude could roll with the punches. Sitting down, he took a menu of his own as well.

“I hope you don’t mind eating here. I can’t stand eating at my desk, try to avoid it whenever I can,” Wes said after a while, looking a little embarrassed. It was the first time Jude had ever seen Wes truly self-conscious – the man usually oozed self-confidence. He couldn’t help but feel charmed, if slightly amused. 

“No, it’s alright,” he assured.

At Wes’ recommendation, they ordered sandwiches and smoothies. The food was every bit as good as Wes had promised, and Jude dug in with relish, glad to be having something other than fast food for lunch for the first time in days. 

Despite both men’s best intentions to keep work from encroaching into their lunch hour, the topic of conversation eventually moved to just that, with Jude listening intently as Wes described how he and several close friends had founded Lava as a tiny start-up right out of university. 

Wes was just sharing a funny anecdote about how he and his friends had thought they encountered a ghost during a late night in the office in their start-up years, when he broke off mid-story, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

Jude’s head turned as he followed Wes’ gaze. His face lit up when he saw Zero standing a few feet away from their table, wearing ripped jeans, a tight maroon T-shirt and an unreadable expression.

“Zero!” Jude broke out into a huge smile. “What are you doing here?”

Zero smiled as he strode towards their table, but it looked more like he was baring his teeth. “Hey babe. Was on my way to meet my book publisher and I happened to see you in here, so decided to drop in and say hi. Pretty coincidental, huh?” 

 _Babe?_ Jude blinked, nonplussed, but quickly lost his train of thought when Zero bent down and captured his lips in a kiss that contained far too much tongue, considering that they had company. Jude melted into it anyway, sensing some tension in Zero, and made a mental note to talk to Zero about it as soon as possible. Maybe he had a bad day at practice?

Eager to make Zero forget whatever unhappy business was bothering him, Jude hurried to make introductions between Zero and Wes. “Zero, this is Wes, Chief Operating Officer of Lava. Wes, this is Zero, my –”

“Your boyfriend,” Wes finished for him. “I know, I’ve heard a lot about this famous Zero.”

He turned to address Zero directly. “Good to finally meet you in person.” He held a hand for Zero to shake. 

Jude started to get a sinking feeling in his stomach when Zero made no move to shake Wes’ outstretched hand, crossing his arms in front of him instead. “What can I say? Two championships in a row, one MVP, and suddenly everyone can’t get enough of me. To be honest though, I’ve never heard about you before. What does Lava do? Lamp manufacturing?”

Jude gaped at Zero. That was blatantly rude, even for Zero, who usually could be counted on to say the right thing at the right occasion. “Ecommerce,” he said tightly, already mentally calculating how quickly he could change the subject and get rid of Zero before he well and truly offended Wes and destroyed whatever progress Jude had made with the sponsorship talks so far.

“Right, ecommerce. Sorry, man,” Zero replied, sounding so insincere that Jude would have laughed, if he didn’t have a multi-million sponsorship deal on the line. 

“Zero, don’t you have to meet your publisher?” he cut in, hoping that Zero would take the hint and leave.

“Yup,” Zero said. Instead of showing signs of making a move, he dragged a chair from the table next to Jude’s and sat down. All the while, his eyes stared daggers at Wes, who was doing some pretty impressive glaring of his own by now. 

“Excuse me,” Jude didn’t bother to wait for a response from Wes, instead grabbing Zero by his arm and dragging him away to the entrance of the café, away from the rest of the patrons and out of hearing distance from Wes.

“What the hell was going on there, Gideon?” Jude hissed.

“What?”

“Don’t give me that shit. I know you better than that and you know it. You obviously have a problem with Wes, so spill it now.” 

Zero sighed. “Maybe I don’t like how he looks at you.”

“We are discussing a sponsorship deal. It is inevitable that he looks at me at one point or another during the discussions.”

“No, Jude,” Zero gritted out. “The guy is looking at you like he wants to take that damn sandwich away from your mouth and replace it with his tongue. And don’t bother telling me it is my imagination or whatever because _I_ look at you like that every day and I can damn well tell when some asshole is hitting on my boyfriend.” 

Whatever Jude had been expecting Zero to say, _this_ definitely wasn’t it. Jude wasn’t a man who startled easily, but he momentarily found himself speechless. “Gideon…” 

Zero looked like he was going to say more, but then his phone rang. He answered it, still staring evenly at Jude. After saying _uh-huh_ a couple of times and making a few affirmative noises, he ended the call. “Gotta go, the publisher’s here.”

“Gideon, whatever you think Wes is thinking…or trying…I’m not interested, okay?” Jude said urgently. The thought of Wesley McDermitt’s apparent lust for him was impossible to comprehend, but there was no way Jude was letting Zero go without making sure that Zero knew he was still Jude’s number one guy. That he was Jude’s _only_ guy.

Zero’s eyes softened. “I know, stupid. Make sure that asshole knows I’ll deck him if he tries anything funny, okay?”

Jude smiled. “Maybe not in those exact words, but I’ll try to convey the gist of it to him.” 

“That’s my man,” Zero leaned in, and they shared a quick kiss before Zero walked out of the café, looking vaguely less homicidal than he had five minutes ago. Jude returned to the table, the wheels turning in his head as he desperately tried to think of a way to salvage the situation with Wes.

“I’m so sorry about just now,” he said, sliding back into his seat across the table from Wes.

Wes looked up from his food. “I’d say it’s okay, but star baller or no, your boyfriend was totally out of line, and you know it.”

Jude took a deep breath. “Zero can be…volatile.”

“Doesn’t take a genius to see that. Trouble in paradise?” 

“No. Well, kind of. But we fixed it. ” 

“Good to hear,” Wes said casually as he wiped his mouth with a napkin before balling it up and tossing it onto his empty plate. “He looked pretty pissed just now though. Does he do this often? Flare up for no good reason and go around being a dick to people?”

“What?” Jude exclaimed. “No! He’s a great guy, honestly. It was a misunderstanding, and we’ve already cleared it up.”

“And how often do these misunderstandings occur, exactly?” 

Jude narrowed his eyes at Wes. Sponsorship or no sponsorship, he wasn’t letting anyone get away with making comments about Zero that way. “Don’t talk about Zero like that.” 

Wes raised his hands. “No offense meant. I’m just concerned, Jude. If you say it’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll let it go.”

“That would probably be for the best.”

Wes nodded, but he looked like he was deep in thought. Jude picked up the rest of his sandwich and began demolishing it methodically. He had pretty much lost his appetite after the confrontation earlier.

After a while, Wes spoke up again. “Jude, I know I said I’d let it go, but I just wanted to say – if you need someone to talk to, you can always give me a ring, alright?”

Jude blinked. As kind and well-intentioned that offer was, there wasn’t any really polite way of saying, _Zero thinks you want to get into my pants and he’s pissed about it_.

And frankly, Jude didn’t think that Zero’s insistence that Wes wanted him held much water. The guy had been kind of flirty, sure, but most of the time he had been perfectly professional. Jude suspected that Wes was simply the type who flirted on instinct, using his good looks and natural charisma to charm others into doing what he wanted. Besides, Jude wasn’t delusional enough to think that he was so attractive, men would be panting after him within the span of several phone calls, email exchanges and two face-to-face meetings.

Making up his mind to reassure Zero that whatever jealousy he had felt was completely unfounded tonight, Jude smiled at Wes and shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I’d like to get back to our discussion.”

“Hey, it’s your call. Ready whenever you are.” 

Jude nodded, took a last sip of his smoothie, and flagged down the nearest waitress to get the bill.

\---------

“We should talk,” were the first words out of Jude’s mouth when he returned home that night to the sight of Zero sprawled out on the couch, idly flipping through the TV channels.

Zero didn’t answer, just made a gesture with his hands that Jude took to mean _be my guest_. 

Jude took off his suit jacket and loosened his tie before sitting on the couch next to Zero. He chose his words carefully, knowing that he was potentially walking through a field of land mines. “Gideon,” he began. “Do you think that Wes and I – there’s something between us?”

“What the hell?” Zero look flabbergasted. “Of course not. What kind of douchebag do you think I am? Jesus.”

Jude rubbed Zero’s arm soothingly. “And do you believe me when I say that you have absolutely nothing to worry about Wesley McDermitt?”

Zero looked down at Jude’s hand on his arm and said nothing.

“Hey, look at me. Look at me,” Jude reached out with his free hand to cup Zero’s face. “I said it before, I’m saying it again. No one can split this team up. Not Oscar, not Jelena, and definitely not some rich egoistic dude in a suit, okay?” 

“He’s not just a rich egoistic dude in a suit though, is he?” 

“What?” Jude frowned. “What do you mean?”

Zero finally met Jude’s eyes, and his gaze was so open and vulnerable and _resigned_ , it made Jude feel like someone was putting his hand around his heart and squeezing it. “I was just talking bullshit earlier. I do know who this McDermitt guy is. I know about Lava, how he founded it, what he has accomplished. And as much as it kills me to admit it, he’s hot as hell and his career is definitely going to last way longer than mine. You sure you want to stick around with me?”

Jude let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. Zero was loud, brash and assertive, but Jude had quickly learnt that most of that was just a façade. The truth was, Zero had his own insecurities, but from a young age, he had learnt to see and treat them as mere flaws, to be covered up and hidden away. Zero was slowly learning to accept them as part of who he was now, embracing the fact that the fragile, tender-hearted Gideon deep within him did not make him any weaker, did not make Jude love him any less. There were times when it still took a nudge (or, if the situation called for it, a hard shove) from Jude to persuade Zero to speak up about his fears and worries. Jude knew that this would likely be the case for a long time to come, and he was more than happy to be there for Zero every step of the way.

“Listen up now, Gideon,” Jude’s voice was firm and left no room for argument. “I’m with you because you are the most amazing man in the world, because you treat me like a prince and look at me like I’m the most precious thing in the world. I’m with you because you always think of me first, and you would sacrifice anything and everything for me. I’m with you because you were there for me, reaching out to me, when no one else would. And most importantly, I’m with you because I love you so much, I don’t even dare to imagine life without you. I’m not with you because of your career or your money or fame. And if you dare suggest that I am going to run into another guy’s arms just because he’s got cash and a fancy job title ever again, I’ll deck you. So are we on the same page now?” 

Zero was still looking at Jude, but the lost, vacant look on his face had been replaced with an expression of such sheer _joy_ that it stole Jude’s breath away. “Fuck, Jude, you never fail to amaze me,” Zero breathed.

The huge grin on Zero’s face was so beautiful and infectious that Jude couldn’t help grinning back. “In a good way or a bad way?” 

“Good. Definitely good.”

The two of them just sat there for a moment, smiling at each other like idiots, before Jude’s stomach let out a loud rumble of protest at being denied dinner, effectively ruining the mood. Jude turned bright red, while Zero laughed so hard he nearly fell off the couch, and proceeded to tease Jude about it for the next half an hour.

\---------

Jude had just taken his shower and was stepping out of the bathroom, rubbing his hair dry, when he heard the familiar _beep_ signaling that he had a new message on his phone. He frowned when he realized that it was from Wes.

_Meet me outside your apartment?_

Jude stared at his phone for a moment, not sure what game Wes was trying to play now.

 _It’s not convenient now. Whatever it is, can it wait until tomorrow?_  

_I’m already waiting outside. Take however long you need. I’ll be here._

Jude bit his lower lip as he looked at the bedroom door. It was slightly ajar, and he could hear the sounds of the TV as Zero watched whatever latest hit show was airing right now. 

He quickly typed out a reply to Wes and hit the send button.

_See you in five._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I hope nobody is going to throw rotten eggs at me for ending this chapter the way I did! What can I say, Wesley McDermitt has plenty of tricks up his sleeve. ;)


	4. Trouble in paradise

Jude pulled on a pair of loose sweatpants and went to join Zero in the living room. Zero raised his eyebrows at the sight of Jude standing in front of him bare-chested, hair tousled and damp from his shower. “Hey gorgeous,” he said, ogling Jude’s chest unabashedly. “Trying to seduce me?”

“Wes wants to meet me,” Jude said without preamble.

The leer immediately dropped off Zero’s face, replaced by shock, then anger. “What? Like now?”

“Now,” Jude confirmed.

“That bastard!” Zero stood up and began pacing the length of the living room floor. He abruptly stopped, as if a thought had just occurred to him. “You didn’t agree, did you?” he asked, grabbing Jude’s hands and looking into his eyes urgently.

“I did,” Jude, sensing that Zero was about to launch into a tirade, squeezed Zero’s hands reassuringly. “But I want you to come with me, okay? I don’t know what Wes wants, but he can’t try anything if you are with me. If anything, it will show him that I am very much taken and in love, and completely uninterested in whatever he is offering.”

The look in Zero’s eyes turned calculating. “Aren’t you worried I’ll punch Golden Boy and send him running home crying?”

Jude shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll have to find a new sponsor,” he said casually.

A slow smile spread across Zero’s face and he shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you, Jude Kinkade.”

“Pinch my ass in front of him, and you’ll take back those words,” Jude frowned in mock sternness.

Zero wrapped his arms around Jude’s waist and pulled him in for a short, hard kiss that left Jude’s lips tingling and his heart pounding. “I’ll be waiting for you. Go find out what that bastard wants and come back as soon as you are done.”

Jude pulled away in surprise. “You aren’t coming with me?”

Zero gazed into Jude’s eyes, his expression open and sincere. “I know you are doing this because you don’t want me to worry or get suspicious, and I love you so much for it. But I know you Jude, and I trust you. You would never do anything to hurt me.”

Jude beamed, and grabbed Zero for another kiss. Wesley McDermitt could wait.

\-------

In the end, Jude was late meeting Wes, no thanks to a heated discussion with Zero about whether Zero’s basketball jersey was appropriate attire for the meet up. Jude had put an end to that debate when he tossed the jersey back at Zero, hitting him square in the face, and put on one of his own tank tops instead.

Wes was leaning against the apartment building, his head tipped back. He was wearing the same sleek dark suit from earlier in the day, so Jude figured he had come straight from work. Not that it mattered, Wes still looked like he had stepped from the centrefold of a magazine even after a long day of work, while Jude himself, in the same situation, would have looked like something the cat had dragged in.

Wes straightened when he caught sight of Jude. “Hey,” he said, breaking into a smile.

Jude smiled back tentatively. “Hey. So…you wanted to see me about something?”

Wes scratched the back of his head sheepishly. “Yea. It actually sounded way better in my head when I was thinking about it. It’s just, Zero looked really pissed at the café this afternoon, and I was worried about how things between you two would be tonight. I wanted to see with my own eyes that you were okay, I guess.”

“Oh,” Jude wasn’t sure what to say. “We are good, actually. Real good. You didn’t have to – um, I mean, I appreciate the gesture, but it wasn’t necessary.” He nodded awkwardly.

Wes let out a self-deprecating laugh. “Yeah, I did say it sounded better when I thought it about it in my head.”

Jude figured he should be outraged on Zero’s behalf that Wes was implying that Zero would be unreasonable, or even worse, get nasty over what was essentially a non-issue at the café. But he was strangely touched. Apart from Zero and Lionel, no one had ever done nice things for him before, completely unsolicited and without wanting anything in return.

But, touched or not, the fact remained that Jude had to set things straight with Wes. It had been his purpose in coming down to meet Wes at this hour after all.

“Wes, this might sound really presumptuous of me but –”

“I don’t think I like the direction this conversation is going,” Wes interrupted. His tone was joking, but his eyes were resigned.

Jude took a deep breath. “I love Zero. He’s the first man I loved, he’s going to be the last man I love. He’s my entire heart, and there is no space there for anyone else. I need to be upfront about this, because I don’t want you to waste your time on something that’s not going to happen.”

Wes closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Wow. Okay, that was brutal. But I can’t say I didn’t see it coming.”

“I’m so sorry, Wes. But you knew all along that I’m with someone else.”

“Yes, I did,” Wes agreed. “I never stood a chance though. The moment you smiled at me, I was a goner. Then you turned out to be this sweet, awkward, kind-hearted man, who’s also one of the most intelligent people I’ve ever worked with, and I just knew I had to do my best to make you mine, even if I was fighting a losing battle.” He smiled sadly.

Jude stammered for a moment, unsure about how to respond to Wes’ blatant adoration. He was unused to having such heaping praise directed to him just like that. As if the other person truly believed that Jude was really all of these things.

“I’m sorry,” he said again. Because that was what he honestly felt. Wes was smart, considerate and gorgeous. If Jude had met him a year ago, who knew what would have happened? But Jude’s heart now belonged to one man only, and that man was now at their home, waiting for him.

Wes shook his head. “You don’t have to be. I just hope that Zero knows just what an amazing man he has in you, Jude. And that he treats you with all the love and adoration that you deserve. Because if you were mine, I’d be worshipping the ground you walk on.”

“He does, Wes,” Jude smiled at Wes, unable to conceal the love in his expression and voice at the thought of Zero. “He really does.”

\-------

Even though Jude had been upfront with Zero about meeting with Wes, and Zero had willingly let Jude go alone, Jude still felt apprehensive when he returned to their house. He wasn’t sure how he was going to tell Zero what had happened, even if he had rejected Wes and firmly put any notions of them ever being more than friends out of Wes’ head.

In the end, those anxieties were for nothing, because the moment Jude let himself into the house, Zero was on him like a cat pouncing on a mouse, pressing Jude up against the door and pressing hard, wet kisses all over the back of Jude’s neck.

“You were gone for so long,” Zero murmured in between kisses.

Jude clutched onto the door for support as Zero’s teeth found his pulse point and clenched down over it gently. “I – ah – I was trying to explain – ah!”

Zero was now nibbling on the sensitive spots of Jude’s neck, and Jude knew that his neck would be a patchwork of angry red marks the next day. But he couldn’t bring himself to stop Zero, not when Zero’s ministrations were making him squirm with pleasure, and Zero was grinding his hard on into Jude’s ass.

Then Zero was roughly grabbing Jude by the waist, making Jude squeak in surprise as he half-carried, half-dragged Jude to the couch and practically threw him onto it. Jude had just barely drawn himself up into a sitting position when Zero dropped down onto his knees in front of Jude and mouthed at Jude’s erection through his sweatpants.

Jude’s head fell back against the couch. “Oh my god,” he moaned as Zero’s hand reached up to massage his balls. Suddenly, Zero pulled away, leaving Jude bereft, and he let out a truly embarrassing whine of need. “ _Gideon_ ,” he whimpered, reaching out blindly for Zero and trying to pull the other man’s head back to his crotch for more of that delicious friction.

“Shhh,” Zero whispered reassuringly. He reached for the waistband of Jude’s pants, and Jude obligingly raised his hips to let Zero pull them off. Jude’s erection jutted out in front of him, rock hard and desperate for Zero’s touch. Zero leaned down and pressed a string of kisses down the shaft, then twirled his tongue around the head and sucked, _hard_ , and Jude yelped, his hips snapping up into the air of their own volition.

Zero pulled off Jude’s cock with an obscene pop that would have made Jude blush, if all the blood hadn’t already gone down to his dick. He replaced his mouth with his hand, stroking Jude off with languid strokes that had Jude keening, the friction too much and too little all at once.

“I want to hear it now,” Zero purred as his hand continued with the slow, torturous strokes.

“Huh?”

“I want to hear what you talked to Wesley McDermitt about just now,” Zero leaned down and licked Jude’s shaft from the root to tip.

“Oh, fuck, fuck, Gideon…” Jude’s head was spinning. He could barely even form the words to string together a proper sentence, and now Zero wanted him to do a _recount_?

“You heard me, Jude,” Zero pressed his fingers warningly into the tender head of Jude’s cock, making Jude’s thighs jerk in a mix of pleasure and pain. “Either you start talking, or you don’t come at all tonight.”

“Fuck – ah, Wes wanted to see me. See if I was – ah, fuck – okay,” Jude stuttered out as Zero resumed the stroking with added vigour.

 “And?” How Zero could look so calm and unaffected while driving Jude crazy was beyond Jude. As if to encourage Jude, Zero lowered his head and lapped on Jude’s shaft.

“He said...oh my _god_ …said that I was sweet and kind-hearted – oh!” Jude broke off into a small shriek as Zero took Jude into his mouth and began sucking. Jude was lost, moaning and whimpering as Zero brought him closer and closer to the edge. He was close, _so_ close, when Zero let his dick slide out of his mouth. Jude wailed and started to wrap a hand around his dick, desperate to come, but a warning growl from Zero stilled him.

“What else, Jude? You can’t come until I hear everything, remember?” Zero said silkily as he rubbed his hand up and down Jude’s spit-covered cock.

“I told him I love you and that you are my heart,” Jude whined. “Oh please, Gideon. _Please_ let me come, _please please please…_ ”

“Good boy,” he heard Zero coo. And then his mouth was on Jude’s dick, taking Jude in all the way to the root until he felt Zero’s nose brushing against his pubes, and and Jude lost it. His hands flew up and grabbed onto the back of Zero’s head. His hips thrusted once, twice, thrice, fucking into Zero’s mouth, and then Jude came with a scream, pumping streams of come into Zero’s throat.

\-------

Jude woke up the next morning to the blare of his alarm, feeling sticky, sore, and completely exhausted. With a grimace, he pulled himself upright and reached out for his phone to turn off the alarm before it woke up Zero as well.

He expected to find several work e-mails waiting for him, maybe a text message or two from Lionel about whatever hot night out she had. To his utter befuddlement, he found literally thousands of notifications from his Twitter and Instagram accounts instead.

Completely awake and in full-on investigative mode now, Jude clicked on the latest notification and gaped when it linked him to a picture of him with Wes, taken right outside his apartment the night before.

 _Zero’s boyfriend spotted in late night rendezvous with billionaire hottie Wes McDermitt!_ the headline screamed.

A mix of horror and disbelief settled over Jude as he clicked on other notifications at random, and they all led him to various social media posts and online articles featuring the same few pictures from yesterday night, and all shamelessly sporting the same headline about Jude’s supposed clandestine meeting with Wes.

_Fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we all know why Jude agreed to meet Wes. He might be clueless but he really does love Zero, and I hope that was a satisfying resolution to that little cliffhanger. But now we've got another crisis looming...


	5. Of heart-to-hearts and confrontations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you all probably already know, this story takes place about a year after the season finale. It also follows canon closely, meaning Derek and Terrence are gone and Zero is captain. So instead of just name-dropping Derek and Terrence in the story, I added in a few OCs of my own. 
> 
> Also, this chapter is in Zero's POV. The rest of the story is likely to remain in his POV...we'll see.

Zero grins and sits back in his chair, spreading his legs wider as Jude crawls on all fours towards him, ass raised tantalizingly in the air. Jude has stripped down to nothing but a navy blue jockstrap and _damn_ , Zero had always thought that jockstraps were some of the most awkward looking pieces of clothing ever invented, but seeing the way the underwear frames Jude’s package so deliciously, while leaving his pert little bum completely exposed…Zero may have to rethink his assessment of the humble jockstrap. 

Jude straddles his lap, biting his lip and looking at Zero through his lashes in that way he knows drives Zero wild. He balances himself with one hand on Zero’s shoulder, another braced behind him on Zero’s thigh, and slowly, deliberately grinds his ass against Zero’s jean-clad erection. Zero wants nothing more than to grab Jude, throw him onto the bed and fuck his brains out, but Jude had insisted that Zero keep his hands off, so Zero is doing his very best to be good and follow Jude’s instructions, even if his self-control is _this_ close to snapping.

His body blazes with barely contained lust as Jude shifts closer, placing his mouth over Zero’s ear and whispering “Gideon…” 

“Jude…”

“Gideon? Gideon? _Wake up._ ”

Zero groaned as he was abruptly yanked out of his filthy, glorious dream of Jude giving him a striptease and back into reality. Jude was prodding at him with a finger, and he was wearing that expression – his EVP face, as Zero liked to call it. He was also stark naked and his neck was covered in an impressive amount of hickies, courtesy of Zero. Beneath the sheets, Zero’s cock, already standing at attention no thanks to his sordid little dream, gave a twitch of interest.

“Okay, okay, I’m up,” Zero reached out to push the offending finger away. Then Jude’s face was looming over him, still set in that oh-so-serious look that Zero had grown to love and dread in equal measure. 

“Gideon…I’m going to show you something. But you have to promise me not to get angry,” Jude gazed at Zero intently with big earnest hazel eyes, and Zero had to keep himself from shaking his head in disbelief, because was Jude even serious? Zero would pretty much bend over backwards and jump around in circles on one foot if it meant that Jude would be happy and satisfied. And Zero was fairly certain there was literally nothing Jude could do to make him angry.

But Zero held back the snarky comment that was at the tip of his tongue, because whatever it was that had Jude worrying his pretty head silly this early in the morning, it was clearly major to Jude.

“I promise,” he said. “C’mon now, what is it?” 

Jude grabbed his phone from the bedside table and tapped on the screen a few times until he got the page he wanted. He tossed it to Zero without a word.

Zero caught the phone and looked down at the screen.  His grip tightened on the phone as he took in the contents of the page the screen was at, and he had to consciously clamp down on the flare of anger that hit him. The photo was small and grainy, taken some distance away, but the quality was more than sufficient for him to make out Jude and Wes, deep in conversation outside their apartment building.

Zero tossed the phone back to Jude, then laid back on the pillows with his arms folded behind his head. “That’s all?”

Jude frowned. “That’s all?” 

Zero squinted up at Jude. “Are you echoing me, or are you asking me a question?”

“A little of both, I guess. Aren’t you angry? If I hadn’t agreed to go and meet Wes, this wouldn’t have happened. I don’t know what I was thinking.” Jude’s shoulders slumped, leaving him looking small and distressed.

“Jude, why should I be angry? You are your own person. You are allowed to make your own choices, just like how you allow me to make mine. I would love to punch Wesley McDermitt in the face, maybe punch the paparazzi who took those photos as well, but all this –” Zero gestured at the phone in Jude’s hand, “– isn’t your fault, Jude.” 

Jude shook his head. “I should have predicted that something like this would happen. Those reporters, they love digging up dirt on you. I dragged you into this. I should have been more careful.” 

Zero patted the bed next to him, a silent gesture for Jude to scoot up next to him. Jude hesitated for a moment before shifting over so that he was curled right up next to Zero, and Zero wrapped an arm around Jude’s shoulders. “I’m sensing more than just plain old self-recrimination here.”

“I know how much you hate it when paparazzi writes about us,” Jude lowered his head. “I don’t blame you for being pissed about this.” 

Zero placed a hand on Jude’s chin and tilted his head up gently. “Oh Jude,” he sighed. “I’m not saying I’m not pissed. I’m pissed alright. But _not at you_. You asked me to go with you, and I said no, remember? So shit happened, but as you said, those reporters love digging up dirt on me. If not about this, then about some other crap down the line. You are the most brilliant man I know, but you’re not a prophet, Jude. You don’t have to blame yourself for every single bad thing that happens.”

Jude gave Zero a small, hesitant smile, and Zero felt his heart lighten, knowing that what he was saying was getting through to Jude. “Besides,” he continued, “You didn’t actually fuck him last night, did you?”

Jude’s eyes widened comically. “What? No!”

Zero grinned. “Well, then I don’t see what the problem is. If that’s the worst those reporters can do, they’re going to get tired and move on to some other scandal soon enough. We can even create one for them. Maybe fuck on the Porsche, in the middle of the arena carpark. That should get them excited enough to forget about this damn thing.” He winked at Jude exaggeratedly. 

Jude shoved Zero, but he was grinning as well. “In your dreams.”

Speaking of dreams…Zero felt his dick starting to stir again at the memory of the delicious dream he had been having right before he had been so rudely poked awake by Jude. Well, the culprit was lying here next to him now, gorgeous and naked as the day he was born. It was only fair that Zero claimed some kind of compensation, right?

Mind made up, Zero bent his head and pressed his lips against Jude’s. Jude responded enthusiastically, wrapping his arms around Zero’s neck and parting his lips to allow Zero’s tongue entrance. Zero had just managed to slide a hand between them to fondle Jude's cock, when Jude suddenly caught sight of the time on the clock and promptly shoved Zero off him.

“Fuck, look at the time. How did that happen?” Jude scrambled out of bed, dashed over to the closet and began pulling out clothes and a towel, leaving Zero staring incredulously at him. 

“Jude! And what am I supposed to do with this?” Zero demanded, gesturing to his crotch – his very wide awake and excited crotch.

“I’m sorry, Gideon! I’ll make it up to you tonight, I promise!” Jude shouted back, right before the bathroom door slammed shut behind him. 

Zero groaned and slumped back onto the bed.

\-------

Zero had expected the reporters lurking at the arena when he went over for practice later that morning, and the barrage of completely inappropriate and invasive questions that accompanied them. It didn’t make him want to grab and smash their microphones and cameras any less.

“Zero, is this the first time Jude has been fooling around behind your back?” 

“Zero, how do you think Jude met Wes McDermitt?

“Zero, how long have you known about their affair?” 

Zero gritted his teeth, making a mental note of the reporters who had asked these questions and the magazines they worked for, and making up his mind to never, ever grant any of them an interview. “No comment,” he said brusquely as he pushed his way towards the building.

_Fucking vultures._

By the time Zero reached the locker room, he was in a thoroughly foul mood. Thankfully, the other Devil players had either registered the decidedly hostile vibes he was emanating, or had read the gossip circulating online, because they all left him alone.

Or rather, _most_ of them left him alone. Zero had just finished changing into his practice uniform when someone spoke up. 

“Whoa, Zero. You’re still in the mood to come for practice? Gotta say I’m impressed.”

Zero shoved his jeans and T-shirt into his locker and turned around, deliberately keeping his movements slow and measured to hide his agitation. Standing in front of his own locker, wearing a huge shit-eating grin, was Tom Jacobson. The tall lanky redhead was a relatively new transfer to the team. He was one hell of a shooting guard and generally got along well with the other players, but Zero never liked the guy. There was something inherently slimy and off-putting about him despite the friendly front he put up.

“Not sure what you are talking about, Tom. You want to make yourself clear?” Zero made sure to keep his tone and his expression neutral, but with an underlying threat of _back the fuck off_ belying his words.

Tom shrugged as he began to change into his basketball jersey. “I’m just saying, if I were in your shoes, I’d be finding that McDermitt dude and punching his lights out. Unless, of course, you and Jude have an open relationship thing going on.”

Zero tightened his jaw. “There’s nothing between Jude and Wesley McDermitt,” he said evenly. 

“Hey, whatever you say, man. A piece of advice though, it’s always the prim and proper ones who are real freaks in the sack. And Jude Kinkade is as prim and proper as it gets. Better talk to him man, find out how many guys he’s screwing around with. Unless you get off on being cuckolded or whatever.”

Enough was enough. Zero could handle whatever insults anyone wanted to hurl his way. But nobody got away with talking about Jude like that. Zero jerked forward, ready to knock the asshole’s teeth out, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around him, holding him back. 

Zero growled and looked back. It was his vice-captain, Todd Donovan. 

“Don’t be an ass,” Todd hissed. “You think that shit they wrote is bad enough? Wait until they get wind of you decking Tom. The reporters are gonna have a field day with that.”

Zero roughly shook off Todd and walked back to his locker. He grabbed his towel and water bottle and slammed the door shut. For a moment, he just stood in front of the locker, taking several deep breaths as he struggled to rein in his temper. Through the fog of his rage, he could hear some of the other players calling Tom out on his bullshit.

Frankly, Zero didn’t give a damn whether or not the rest of the team was on his side. He was team captain and MVP, which meant that anyone who didn’t like his guts would just have to suck it up or find some other team to play for. But Zero couldn’t deny that it was satisfying to hear Todd and the others giving Tom a hard time over what had transpired earlier.

Finally, when Zero was sure he had complete control over himself, he walked over to Tom. “I don’t know who the hell you think you are,” he bit out. “But talk about Jude like that one more time, and hand to God, I will make sure you never play basketball again. 

Zero didn’t bother waiting for an answer before he turned and stalked off to the gym. If he couldn’t punch Tom Jacobson, he would have to settle for smashing some weights and pretending it was that bastard’s smarmy face he was slamming onto the ground instead.

\-------

Practice was brutal, and Zero relished every moment of it, using the sheer force of his anger to fuel him through the intense paces that Pete put them through. Once practice was over, he didn’t hang around to chat with the guys the way he usually did, instead high tailing it to the locker room to get himself showered and changed. He had somewhere to be, someone to talk to.

Half an hour later, he pulled the Porsche up to the massive building that was the Lava headquarters. He chose a parking lot at random, not particularly caring whether he was parked at the common area or at the designated lots for staff, and got out of the car. It was easy enough to locate Wesley McDermitt’s office, and Zero found his way to the correct wing and level without issue. 

“I’m here to see your Chief Operating Officer,” Zero plastered on a smile for the petite, bespectacled lady he assumed was Wesley McDermitt’s secretary.

She blinked. “Mr McDermitt has informed me that he won’t be seeing any visitors today. He’s very busy. Did you make an appointment?” 

Zero leaned in towards her. “I don’t need an appointment. Tell McDermitt that Zero is here to see him. He’ll definitely make time for me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who here wants to grab a set of pom-poms to cheer Zero on? I volunteer myself. *raises hand*


	6. Showdown

To McDermitt’s credit, he appeared completely unfazed by Zero’s surprise visit, even mustering up a smile and a polite invitation for Zero to take a seat. Zero had made himself comfortable, tipping back dangerously low in the chair and hiking his legs up onto McDermitt’s table. He knew he was giving off massive douchebag vibes, and he didn’t particularly care. 

McDermitt’s eyes narrowed, and Zero half expected the other man to start threatening to kick Zero out if he didn’t show some respect or some other bullshit. Instead, McDermitt had leaned back in his own chair and stared directly at Zero in the eyes. “I assume this is about Jude.”

A lesser man might have felt intimidated by that firm, steely stare, but Zero wasn’t most men. He crossed his arms and stared right back. “I know what you are trying to do. I’m here to tell you it isn’t going to work.”

McDermitt raised an eyebrow. “And what do you think I am trying to do?”

“You think you can get in between us and take Jude away from me.” 

McDermitt laughed and shook his head. “Jude has a mind of his own. Once he decides he’s sick of playing around with an immature little boy and go for a real man instead, he’ll come to me. I don’t need to take him away.”

Zero forced himself to stay calm. He had an agenda for being here, and playing right into McDermitt’s hands was not part of the plan. “Jude will never go to you. Trust me.”

“That’s what you think. But it didn’t stop him from leaving your little love nest to come meet me last night, didn’t it?” McDermitt stared pointedly at Zero.

That was a low blow, but it had its intended effect. Zero had a lot of experience in masking his true feelings however, and he kept his expression neutral. “He told me he was going to meet you. You are deluded if you think he actually went off to meet you behind my back.”

“I did wonder what Jude had to do to slip out and meet me.” McDermitt clasped his hands behind his head and grinned at Zero, lazy and self-assured. “Never really pegged him as the conniving type, but damn, this just makes me like him even more. And apparently now I have you to thank for that lovely night out with Jude! Who would have thought?” 

Zero clenched his fist. “You bastard –”

McDermitt _tsk_ -ed and shook his head pityingly. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow, I know. I thought I’d have to work much harder to get Jude to see that he could do better than you, but you had to go and offer me the opportunity on a silver platter. He looked so good last night too. I mean, he’s smoking hot in those suits, but when he walked out wearing that tank top?” McDermitt shook his head as though he was reliving the moment in his mind.

Zero struggled to rein in his fury. “Don't you dare talk about Jude like that, you fucker.” 

“It’s okay, Zero. Any man would go crazy hearing someone talk about their boyfriend like this,” McDermitt nodded, the very picture of false sympathy. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t plan to just fuck and dump Jude. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’ll make Jude Kinkade the happiest man in the world once he opens his eyes and realizes that he’s wasting his time with a meathead who dips his dick in hookers during his off time.” 

Zero stood up in one swift motion, slamming his hands onto the table and looming threateningly over McDermitt. “You called the paps, didn’t you?” he snarled.

McDermitt shrugged. “Hey, all’s fair in love and war. I know Jude will eventually be mine, but no harm in speeding up things a little.”

Enough was enough. Zero pulled out the portable recorder he had tucked into the pocket of his leather jacket and stopped the recording. “And I can tell you that there won’t be any _things_ happening once Jude hears this.” 

And damn if it didn’t feel good to see the arrogance on Wesley McDermitt’s face disappear, replaced by realization, then shock, before McDermitt managed to school his features back into something that was a pale shadow of his usual look of cockiness. “You planned this.”

“All’s far in love and war,” Zero quoted, thoroughly enjoying the anger and disbelief that was pouring off McDermitt in waves. He pressed play on the recorder, and smiled grimly as the recording of the other man’s insufferably smug voice filled the office.

McDermitt looked at him as though he was realizing for the first time just what Zero could and would do. Zero would have been offended by the way the other man had dismissed him so easily, but it was hugely satisfying knowing that he had just taken that assumption and turned it upside down and inside out. “I guess you are going to give Jude a play-by-play of today’s conversation once you get home.” 

Zero shoved the recorder into his pocket. “Stay the fuck away from Jude, and I’ll keep this between us. Try anything with him, and I’ll make sure he knows exactly what kind of underhanded bastard you are.”

“Why, afraid that Jude’s going to run for the hills when he knows what you did?” McDermitt sneered.

“No, because you aren’t worth the trouble.” Zero turned to leave. He had gotten what he had come here for, and he wasn’t interested in dragging out this conversation any longer. 

“You aren’t good enough for him,” McDermitt called after Zero. “I know how guys like you work. One day you are going to break his heart, and when that happens, I’ll be there for him.”

Zero paused mid-step, his back still turned towards McDermitt. “The only reason why I didn’t deck you for that is because it would make Jude unhappy.” he said evenly. And he walked away, leaving Wesley McDermitt staring after him. 

\--------- 

Any remaining traces of Zero’s bad mood dissipated when he let himself into the house to the sounds of Jude’s hilariously off-key humming and the delicious smell of stir fry in the air. He dropped his backpack on the floor and walked to the entrance of the kitchen, then stood there for a moment just watching as Jude gave the veggies and meat in the frying pan a stir, then lifted the spatula to his tongue for a tentative taste.

His whole body tingling with the need to just be close to Jude, Zero walked up and wrapped his arms around Jude from behind, burying his face in the back of Jude’s neck and breathing in his scent. “Aren’t you just a sight for sore eyes,” he murmured.

Without missing a beat, Jude reached out for the canister of salt next to the stove and shook it over the frying pan, then turned off the stove before turning around in Zero’s embrace to peck Zero on the lips. “Hungry? Dinner’s just done.”

Zero bit back the innuendo that came instinctively to him. He knew that Jude didn’t mind the sometimes sarcastic, usually dirty comments that he constantly slipped into their conversations, and that Jude in fact found them amusing most of the time. But Zero knew how much Jude treasured the moments when Zero dropped his flirtatious persona and was just himself, and Zero had always been fair game for anything that made Jude happy. 

“Starving.” Zero let Jude slide out of his arms and leaned back against the kitchen countertop as he watched Jude flit around the kitchen, gathering plates and cutlery and arranging them on the table. “Tried a new recipe today?”

“Not exactly,” Jude started spooning the stir fry onto the plates. He gave Zero a sheepish look. “We had a bunch of veggies starting to go bad in the fridge so I just threw them all into the frying pan. Added eggs and chicken breast, so there’s your protein intake for dinner all settled.” 

Jude had added a bunch of spices as seasoning for the stir fry, and dinner turned out to be delicious, with both men finishing up the entire serving between them.

They did the dishes together in companionable silence, Zero doing the soaping up and Jude rinsing everything out. They had a dishwasher – and one of those fancy-ass models at that – but Jude, the dork, actually enjoyed doing the dishes, insisting that it was more environmentally friendly and relaxing to boot. Zero didn’t give a damn about saving water, not when he earned enough to pay the monthly bill a hundred times over. But after the few times Jude had successfully coaxed him into washing the dishes together, Zero had come to see that Jude hadn’t been all that off the mark about the relaxing bit.

When the last of the dishes had been washed, dried and put away, Zero tugged Jude into his arms and kissed him passionately. It was a tender, loving kiss, the both of them standing in the middle of the kitchen with their arms wrapped around each other. Zero hadn’t actually intended to turn it into something more – he had simply wanted to touch Jude and feel his warmth and taste his lips, and remind himself that Jude was his to love and treasure and worship. But it wasn’t long before the kiss turned heated and their hands began to roam, Jude reaching down to rub the growing bulge in the front of Zero’s pants while Zero unbuckled Jude’s belt.

The make out session was just getting interesting, and Zero was mentally debating whether to shift things to the bedroom, or just shove Jude up against the kitchen wall, when he felt Jude tense up. And then Jude was wriggling out of his arms and pushing Zero’s hands away, and well, okay, that was unexpected. 

“What’s wrong? You okay?” Zero tried not to panic. Had Zero accidentally hurt Jude? Was Jude injured? Why hadn’t Jude said anything during dinner?

“Yeah,” Jude could lie circles around anyone else, but Zero spoke fluent Jude and he could tell that there was something up with Jude – and not the fun kind of up, either. Zero narrowed his eyes, ready to force a confession out of Jude.

Unfortunately, Jude himself was equally well-versed in Zero’s ways, and he quickly maneuvered himself out of Zero’s reach and began making his way out of the kitchen. “I need a shower. The air conditioning in the office broke down today and I got really sweaty. I probably stink now. Catch you later.” 

And then Jude was gone, leaving Zero alone, with only his raging hard on for company. For the second time in the day.

“Jude,” Zero groaned.

\---------

Whatever it was that was plaguing Jude, he seemed to have forgotten about it by the time both of them were done with their (sadly, separate) showers, snuggling against Zero in their bed and rubbing his face into Zero’s chest like a large, very affectionate cat. Zero’s arousal roared back to life in an instant, and he promptly rolled the both of them over so that he was on top of Jude, capturing Jude’s lips in a wet, messy kiss and grinding their cocks together.

Zero had only thrown on a pair of boxers after his shower, which were yanked off and tossed to the side quickly enough. Jude, regrettably, was wrapped up in sweatpants and a baggy blue sweater. The sweater did amazing things for Jude’s eyes and Zero usually appreciated the sight of Jude in it, but right now it had to go.

He had just managed to get slide a hand under the waistband and was about to pull it off when Jude suddenly threw Zero off him. Zero barely had time to register the abrupt change in their positions when Jude was straddling him and shoving his tongue into Zero’s mouth for a deep, filthy kiss. And then Jude was kissing his way down Zero’s torso, his tongue exploring the panes and grooves of Zero’s abs, until he reached Zero’s cock, fully erect and aching for Jude. Jude grinned up at Zero cheekily, then pursed his lips and gently kissed Zero’s dick on the head.

“Fuck, Jude. You’re driving me crazy,” Zero panted, resisting the urge to thrust his dick against Jude’s lips.

Jude smirked, but he obligingly took Zero into his mouth and proceeded to bring Zero towards the release that he had been denied since morning.

By the time Jude was done making Zero moan and swear and beg, Zero was a satiated, boneless heap on the bed. He reached out for Jude, fully intending to return the favor, because Zero was nothing but a perfect gentleman in bed. Jude darted out of bed, muttering something about rinsing his mouth, leaving Zero blinking in confusion. Jude had been a little iffy about letting Zero cum in his mouth the first few times they had hooked up, but once he had realized just how much that turned Zero on, he had quickly embraced giving Zero head and swallowing as much of Zero’s cum as he could every time.

Maybe Jude wasn’t feeling well. Jelena had been remarkably subdued since she was shot, but she was still a hard taskmaster, and Jude had been working some pretty late nights the past week. Zero made up his mind to talk to Jude about it once he got out of the bathroom, and get all the details out of Jude through any means possible. But the after effects of a hardcore practice session, combined with a heavy dinner and the amazing blowjob he’d just gotten, quickly caught up with Zero, and he fell into such a deep sleep that he didn’t hear the bathroom door open, or feel Jude slip into bed next to him.


	7. Surprise, surprise

It had been a calculated risk on Zero’s part, barging into Wesley McDermitt’s office. McDermitt, Zero knew, was intelligent and cunning – traits that made him a force to be reckoned with. But Zero also knew that men like McDermitt thought they were invincible, and once they thought they had the upper hand, that they had everything in the bag, that was when they let their guard down and let dumb arrogance get the better of them.

So manipulating McDermitt and egging on that jackass to blurt out all those incriminating things, then recording it all? It had almost been too easy. But unlike McDermitt, Zero had been around the block a few times, and he had learnt the hard way to never let ego and cockiness blind him to potential pitfalls. Zero was all too aware that everything could backfire on him spectacularly. McDermitt had so far proven himself to be just as shameless as he was deluded, and Zero didn’t put it past him to continue to badger Jude, feeding Jude some sob story about how Zero had threatened and blackmailed him, or slipping a rumor or two to the press about supposed cracks appearing in Jude and Zero’s relationship. 

Zero wasn’t particularly concerned about whatever cock-and-bull story McDermitt might try to spin to Jude. Their relationship was solid and he knew Jude would always have his back. And Jude was one smart cookie – he could take care of himself, and was more than capable of holding his own in a showdown with a manipulative asshole like McDermitt. But Zero would be lying to himself if he said that he wasn’t at all worried about what the guy might spill to the press. 

So Zero had his guard up when he woke up the next morning, checking his phone and social media for any signs that McDermitt had chosen not to heed Zero’s words and tried to pull another dumb stunt. Thankfully, the asshole seemed to have taken Zero’s warning seriously enough, and there were no new stories of the supposed Zero-Jude-Wes love triangle to be found.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully enough. Tom Jacobson was unusually subdued after yesterday’s fiasco, and Zero had taken childish delight in staring him down when he had stepped into the arena to begin practice. He had a feeling that somewhere in the court, Todd was looking on and shaking his head in disapproval like the killjoy he was, but the flinch that Tom had given and tried unsuccessfully to hide when he’d met Zero’s gaze had been more than worth getting the stink eye from Todd. 

Zero knew that he should be the bigger guy, offer Tom an olive branch of some kind in his capacity as team captain and all, but nobody insulted Jude to his face and got away with it. It was also the perfect opportunity to send out a warning to the rest of the team, drill into everyone’s heads that Jude Kinkade wasn’t like one of those chicks they picked up at clubs and bragged about banging and dumping. Jude was far more than that, and the sooner those losers realized that, the better.

Zero was wiping the sweat off his neck and shoulders during one of their water breaks when Craig Greene, one of the few guys Zero genuinely liked and tolerated outside of practice and games, came loping over.

“Hey, Zero!” Craig wrapped a beefy arm around Zero’s shoulder. “Todd and I were talking about bringing you out for drinks tonight. Early birthday celebration for the captain, man. You interested?”

Well, that didn’t sound bad at all, especially when the alternative meant a night in by himself binging on pizza and watching reruns of The Walking Dead, since Jude had a live appearance on SportsCenter that night. Zero shrugged. “Sure,” he replied, making a mental note to message Jude about his plans later that day. 

Craig thumped Zero on the back, then Pete blew his whistle, signaling the start of another practice session, and it was back to the grind for them.

\----------

All in all, it was turning out to be a pretty great night out with the team. The group had gradually tapered down as the night progressed, a few of the guys heading off to try their luck with girls who had caught their eye. And nobody had been stupid enough to bring up the topic of Jude’s scandal with McDermitt in the conversation, thank God, so Zero hadn’t needed to throw any threats – or punches. 

“Eh, it’s boss man!” Craig shouted, gesturing wildly at the flat screen TV at the front of the pub. Zero, along with the rest of the table, turned in unison to look at the screen. Sure enough, Jude was there, looking like a million bucks in his dark blue suit, and having forgone his usual tie for an open collar. Zero smiled to himself as he watched the show hosts bombard Jude with one question after another, Jude tackling each one smoothly and professionally, tapping onto his years of agent experience and his natural ability to connect with others. _Atta boy_.

“Jude, we’ve been reading so much about your hot nights out with Wesley McDermitt. Anything you want to say about that?”

Jude smiled. “That’s a rumor. Things are strictly professional between Wesley and I. We were talking business in those photos and nothing more.”

“Really, Jude? But just take a look at Wesley McDermitt – you can’t tell us you aren’t tempted.” As if on cue, several pictures of McDermitt, some candid and some taken professionally for media appearances, appeared in the background. The female host, a busty blond who wore far too much makeup and spoke with her voice pitched annoyingly high, gave a little titter of appreciation.

Zero scowled and took a swig of his beer. That woman was crossing a line. A casual query about a recent rumor was one thing. Shamelessly digging her teeth into the topic and refusing to let go despite a firm reply to the contrary was another.

Jude shook his head with a chuckle, apparently not affected by the rude, insensitive questioning the way Zero was. “Well, I’m in love,” he said lightly. “And when all you want is to spend the rest of your life laughing, watching Netflix, eating pizza and sleeping with that one special guy, it’s hard to think of anyone else.” 

The host said something else, but it was promptly drowned out by the loud, obnoxious exclamations from Todd and Craig and the other guys as they hopped off their seats to crowd around him. Apparently lofty confessions of love on national TV didn’t only have the effect of getting women all misty-eyed – they had their own peculiar effect on professional male athletes too. Craig in particular was really hamming it up, pounding the table in front of Zero and shouting, “Dude? Dude? _Dude!_ ” repeatedly into Zero’s ear.

And for once in his life, Zero didn’t have a snappy comeback. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was grinning so hard, he could feel his cheek muscles starting to protest. Truth be told, he probably looked like an idiot, and any moment now, some ardent fan would probably snap a picture of him and post it on social media for the world to gawk over. 

But Zero couldn’t care less, because Jude Kinkade had pretty much announced his love for Zero to the world _and_ shot down those pesky rumors at the same time. Let the crazy fans, the diehard antis and the media make what they want out of that. Zero had heard Jude’s message for what it was loud and clear. Now he just had to find some way to properly show Jude his appreciation.

\----------

Zero got home late, but Jude returned home even later. Ever the considerate boyfriend, Zero allowed Jude to make it into the safety of the bathroom and get in his shower, and even generously waited for Jude to dry himself off and get dressed. Once Jude was out of the bathroom, he leapt into action, pulling Jude into his arms and kissing him with fervor.

Jude responded eagerly, his hands reaching up to cup Zero’s face as their tongues tangled with each other’s. They broke apart after a while, both of them breathing hard. Zero grabbed one of Jude’s hands, bringing it to his mouth and kissing the palm of it, trying to convey all the love he felt for this man into the kiss.

“Hey,” Jude breathed. “What was that for?”

“Your interview, Jude,” Zero said. “You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

Jude blushed at that. “You liked that?”

“You have no idea how much,” Zero said, his voice growing low with arousal. “Maybe I should show you.”

Zero sealed their lips together again and together, the two of them somehow managed to make their way to the bed without kicking or knocking over anything in the process. Zero pushed Jude onto the bed and began undressing, pulling his T-shirt haphazardly over his head and yanking off his boxers before joining Jude on the bed.

Zero pulled Jude down on top of him and let his hands roam, exploring Jude’s back and the sweet curve of his ass. He let his fingers dip into the crease of Jude’s butt, pushing in between his cheeks and rubbing Jude’s hole through the material of Jude’s pajama pants. 

Jude’s breath hitched and Zero couldn’t stop the grin from spreading over his face. He whispered softly into Jude’s ear, “Want to fuck you, Jude. Stretch this hole open and make this sweet ass mine. You want that too?”

A tiny whimper escaped from Jude’s throat and he nodded eagerly. Then Jude’s eyes widened as though something had just occurred to him, and he quickly backpedaled, shaking his head and began to pull away from Zero.

What the hell? Zero’s reflexes, finely honed from years of professional basketball, kicked in and he rolled them over so that Jude was pinned under him. He pressed down onto Jude with his body weight to keep Jude from making any move to escape, and glared down at him. “What the hell was that about?" 

Jude blinked up at him, all big puppy dog eyes, and despite himself, Zero felt his annoyance start to melt away. Seriously, it was scary how Jude had him wrapped around his little finger. Zero sighed. “You know I’m not going to force myself on you if you don’t want to fuck. But you have to talk to me, Jude. You’re obviously hiding something and I’m not letting you off until you spill, so you better start talking now.”

Jude squirmed, obviously reluctant to come out and just talk about whatever it was. Zero just stared at Jude, and finally, he felt Jude start to cave. 

“I know I’ve been kind of weird since yesterday but just bear with me, okay? I prepared something for your birthday and I’m just trying to keep it all a secret long enough for there to still be an element of surprise tomorrow. But obviously, I didn’t think about the logistics of this thoroughly enough.” Jude grumbled. 

Okay, now Zero’s curiosity was definitely piqued. He eased himself off Jude, letting Jude push himself up, then sat down cross-legged next to Jude. “You got me something for my birthday.”

Jude rolled his eyes. “Yes.” 

“And this something is apparently on you, which is why you’ve been acting like a sixteen year old girl with a purity ring.”

Jude threw up his hands in exasperation. “I have _not_ been acting like…” he began, and Zero couldn’t help it. He began cracking up. 

Jude let out a put-upon sigh, but he wasn’t fooling Zero with the way the sides of his lips were threatening to curl up. “Fine,” he relented. “So maybe I’ve been acting like that. Just a bit.”

Zero raised his eyebrows. “Just a bit?” He began to do a dramatic reenactment of Jude from earlier. “Oh Zero! Fuck me hard! I want it so bad! No, Zero! Don’t you violate me with your big irresistible penis! Stay away!”

Jude burst out laughing. “Big irresistible penis?” he repeated, then he was grabbing a pillow and whacking Zero with it. Not to be outdone, Zero grabbed his own pillow and the two of them grappled in bed, flinging pillows at each other, laughing and shouting like little boys. 

Zero wasn’t sure when it happened, but the impromptu pillow fight somehow ended with them lying flat on the bed, Jude on his stomach with Zero pressed down on top of him, holding both of Jude’s wrists together in one hand.

“Come on now Jude,” he murmured against Jude’s ear. “What is it? Tell me.”

Jude shivered, but held his ground. “No.” 

Zero kissed the side of Jude’s neck and blew at it, watching with satisfaction as Jude squirm. “It’s practically midnight already, Jude,” he purred. “Doesn’t matter if you wait until tomorrow or if you let me see my birthday present a few hours early. Besides, you can’t tell me you don’t miss this.” He rocked his hips against Jude, letting Jude feel the hard length of his dick against his ass. 

“Like you said, just a few hours to go,” Jude sounded a little strained by now, and Zero was almost impressed by the strength of Jude’s will. But Zero was nothing if not persistent, and he was _really_ curious to know what exactly was Jude’s birthday gift for him now. 

“Okay, let me guess then,” Zero paused for a while, pretending to ponder. “A dick piercing?” he suggested innocently.

“What?” Jude sounded horrified. “No!”

“Hmmm, I didn’t think so,” Zero was thoroughly enjoying this little game. “Now that I think about it, it’d be a good idea for me to get one, yeah? Imagine having that metal ring pressing up against your sweet spot when I’m fucking you. It would feel extra good, don’t you think?” He punctuated his words with a rough, shallow thrust of his hips.

Jude just whimpered in response, apparently having lost the ability to speak. 

Zero licked a long line from Jude’s neck up to his ear, delighting in the full body shudder that went through Jude. “Or did you get yourself cleaned up down there? Waxed that tight little hole so that it’s all nice and bare for me?”

Okay, now Zero was getting himself worked up too. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. He was _not_ going to cum all over the back of Jude’s pants like a randy boy who had only just discovered what his dick was good for. When he was sure he had gotten a lid on his excitement, he went back to his ministrations, running his hand up Jude’s side and pressing kisses all over Jude’s neck. 

“Just tell me, Jude,” Zero murmured, filling his voice with the promise of what was to come. He slipped his tongue into the shell of Jude’s ear. “I want to fuck you so bad. Split you open on my dick. Don’t you want that too?”

Zero smiled to himself as he heard the choked off groan emanating from Jude. “Okay, fine,” Jude choked out. “But you have to get off me first.”

 _Gotcha._ Resisting the urge to break into a grin of triumph, Zero obligingly rolled off Jude. Jude got off the bed and stood in front of Zero. His hair was a tousled sweaty mess of curls and his T-shirt had ridden up after their little entanglement on the bed, revealing a tantalizing strip of skin right above his pants. Zero licked his lips as his gaze fell on the massive tent at the front of Jude’s pants. Jude didn’t miss the unabashed way Zero leered at his erection, and he flushed beautifully in response, twin patches of pink appearing high in his cheeks.

Jude locked eyes with Zero as he slowly tugged his T-shirt off. He tossed his shirt to the side, then turned around so that his back was facing Zero. Zero felt his mouth dry up as he took in the broad expanse of Jude’s back and his gorgeous ass, encased in nothing but the threadbare material of his pants. The usually smooth and unmarred skin on Jude’s hip had some kind of mark on it, though. Zero frowned, cocking his head to the side as he studied it. It didn’t look like a bruise or scar, the color was far too dark, and the edges too crisp for that. In fact, it looked like –

Jude seemed to hesitate for a moment, before he hooked his fingers into the waistband of his pants and pushed them down in one smooth motion, baring himself completely to Zero. And there it was. Zero’s name and number, the one he wore loud and proud on his basketball jersey, that he was so familiar with – tattooed onto Jude’s left hip, right above the curve of his ass.

And for the second time that night, Zero found himself speechless.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a long time coming, but the smut will be coming up in the next chapter. *rubs hands in glee*
> 
> And thank you to Tia for mentioning "manscaping" in her last comment, it made me laugh like a crazy woman and inspired me to write Zero teasing Jude about getting waxed down there. :P


	8. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically 1.8k words of smut. Enjoy, dear readers.

The silence must have started to unnerve Jude, because he began to babble after a while.

“If you don’t like it I can always just tattoo it over, though I’m not sure what I can cover it up with. I guess I could always get it removed. But that will have to wait until it’s completely healed, so –”

Zero got up and walked over to Jude, placing a hand on Jude’s lower back, right above that tattoo, effectively cutting Jude off. Of all the things he had been expecting Jude to get him for his birthday, this definitely hadn’t been it. “What made you decide to do this?”

Jude shivered. “Anything you want, you can buy it for yourself. And – and I love you so much, and I just wanted to show you that in a real and definitive way. I know we’ve said the words to each other before, but I want you to know how proud I am to be yours and only yours, Gideon.”

And fuck if that declaration of love didn’t go straight to Zero’s dick. He moved his hand down, touching the tattoo gently, almost reverently, and cupped Jude’s ass with his other hand. Jude started, then began to turn around. But Zero stopped him with a firm hand to his shoulder.

“Get down,” he said, letting a commanding tone slip into his voice. “On your hands and knees.”

Arousal flared in Zero’s belly as Jude promptly obeyed, dropping onto his hands and knees onto the carpeted floor. Zero smacked him gently in the butt, and Jude responded immediately, arching his back and tilting his ass into the air invitingly. The position exposed the soft dark crease between his cheeks and the delicate skin of his ball sac, making Zero’s mouth water with the desire to just bury his face into that glorious ass and eat Jude out like he was a ten course dinner and Zero was a starving man.

Zero positioned himself on his knees between Jude’s legs, reached out and caressed the tattoo. “So fucking beautiful, Jude,” he murmured, enjoying the way the compliment made Jude blush all over. He pulled Jude’s ass cheeks apart, exposing his small pink hole, and just spent a moment taking in the sight of that little furled opening as it clenched, then unclenched, begging to be breached.

Unable to resist any longer, Zero leaned in and licked a long wet strip over Jude’s hole. He lapped all around Jude’s hole until it was soft and relaxed, then jabbed his tongue into the tiny opening, making Jude yelp. Zero grinned to himself as he continued to eat Jude out with gusto. When the muscles in Jude’s thighs started quivering, Zero pulled away with reluctance, knowing that Jude was close to cumming. One day, Zero would take his own sweet time to rim Jude at the most excruciating pace he could bear, bring Jude to the edge over and over again until he found his release from nothing but Zero’s tongue in his ass. But Zero had other things in mind for Jude’s ass right now.

The plaintive whine that Jude let out when Zero pulled back made Zero want to just throw all caution into the wind, to just push his dick into Jude and fuck him into the floor right then and there. But hurting Jude was the last thing Zero wanted to do, and he forced himself onto his feet and stumbled over to the bedside table to find the lube. Once he was back at Jude’s side, Zero hastily slicked up his fingers, then slipped two fingers into Jude. Jude’s hole was already wet and loose from the rim job, and he opened up easily for both fingers. Zero laved his tongue over the underside of Jude’s dick as he fingered Jude open, enjoying the cacophony of moans and mewls it elicited from Jude.

Jude was so turned on that it wasn’t long before he was riding Zero’s fingers with aplomb and demanding for a third. By the time Jude was shamelessly pushing his ass back against all three of Zero’s fingers, Zero decided that Jude was ready. He squeezed out more lube and rubbed it all over his aching shaft, groaning out loud at the sensation on his own oversensitized flesh. Zero lined up his dick against Jude’s hole, but instead of shoving in and rutting away to his orgasm like he wanted to, Zero took his dick in his hand and rubbed the head over Jude’s entrance. He watched with rapture as Jude’s hole gaped, open and empty and eager for something to fill it up.

“Gideon…” Jude turned his head to look at Zero pleadingly, his eyes hazy with need and his bow-shaped lips parted just so. “Fuck me. Please.”

And how was Zero supposed to deny such a sweet request? He pressed the head against Jude’s entrance and slowly, carefully slide in, all the way home. Jude was warm and slick and so fucking tight, Zero thought he would cum just from the way his ass clenched around Zero’s dick. He grabbed a handful of Jude’s ass and squeezed, desperately trying to keep himself in check.

When he had regained enough self-control, Zero pulled out all the way until all but the tip of his dick remained inside Jude, then entered Jude again in one hard thrust, keeping his movements slow and measured. He repeated it again and again, shifting the angle slightly each time and keeping a close ear on the sounds of Jude’s answering whimpers and moans. Jude’s breath hitched at one particular thrust, and his fingers clutched desperately at the carpet, and Zero grinned, knowing that he had hit Jude’s prostrate. He made sure to angle his subsequent thrusts to glance across that spot, enjoying the cries of pleasure they elicited from his usually shy and reserved boyfriend.

Zero gazed down at the way his hands wrapped around Jude’s hips, loving the way the tattoo of his name on the smooth tanned skin peeked through his fingers. Jude was taking his cock like a champ and loving every moment of it, working his hips against Zero and fucking himself on Zero’s cock like he couldn’t get enough of it. Zero lived for the moments when Jude was like this, so overcome with pleasure that he lost all his inhibitions and completely, utterly surrendered himself to Zero.

Jude’s moans of pleasure were quickly beginning to rise in pitch and volume, and the movement of his hips were getting more and more frantic – sure signs that he was going to cum, although he kept his back and shoulders up and his hands in front of him like a good boy. Determined to make Jude cum first, Zero pulled his cock out all the way and shoved it right back into Jude so roughly, the momentum pushed Jude forward on the carpet a few inches. Then he grinded his hips against Jude’s ass, letting the head of his cock rub against Jude’s prostrate in a relentless motion, wrapped a hand around Jude’s cock and began stroking him off. Jude threw his head back and wailed as the dual sensations wracked his body. Then he was tensing up, his ass clenching unbearably tight around Zero as his cock shot streams of cum all over Zero’s fist.

Jude’s upper body sagged onto the ground after he came, although he kept his back arched and his ass in the air, a silent invitation for Zero to fuck and use him as he pleased. Zero groaned, his hips losing their rhythm and snapping forward of their own accord as his own orgasm approached. He felt the heat building up in his groin and spreading up his belly, and then his hands were tightening like clamps around Jude’s hips, and he was emptying himself inside of Jude with an animalistic grunt.

Zero just barely managed to pull himself off Jude before his own limbs gave out and he collapsed onto the ground. Next to him, he felt Jude flopping down with an equal lack of grace, and the two of them just stared up at the bedroom ceiling, chests heaving as they struggled to recover from their exertions.

They laid together in companionable silence for a while. Zero had never thought that he would ever get comfortable enough with someone to be like this with them. Just lying side by side, neither of them having anything in particular to say, and neither of them feeling the need to fill up the silence with unnecessary talk either. It would have either bored him to tears or driven him stir crazy with anyone else. But with Jude, it felt just right. As all other things did with Jude.

In the end, it was Jude who broke the silence. “It’s midnight now,” he grinned, looking over at Zero. “Happy birthday, stupid. Hope you like your birthday present.”

Caught off-guard, Zero laughed out loud. “Thanks,” he said, giving Jude a mock salute. “I think we can both conclude that I don’t just like your present. I love it. Love it a lot, in fact.” He let his eyes roam over Jude’s sweaty, naked body appreciatively.

Jude flushed so beautifully that Zero couldn’t resist teasing him further, wanting to see just how far down he could make that blush spread. “I can think of one way to make your present even better though.”

“Oh, yeah?”

Zero leaned in close to Jude so he could whisper into his ear. “Remember what I said about you in that red bow last week?”

Zero was very gratified to see the blush spread all the way down Jude’s neck to his chest. Jude cleared his throat. “Not happening,” he said gruffly, trying to appear composed and unaffected, but Zero wasn’t fooled a second.

“Come on, Jude,” Zero waggled his eyebrows at his boyfriend. “It’s my birthday now. I think it’s within my rights as birthday boy to get some special privileges today.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Jude clambered onto his feet. He winced a little, and Zero felt ridiculously smug, knowing that he was the cause of it all.

“I need another shower now,” Jude declared. He looked down at Zero meaningfully. “Does the birthday boy want the special privilege of helping me wash the cum out of my ass?”

Zero was up and jostling Jude to the bathroom before Jude could even so much as blink. “You are one hell of a taskmaster, Jude Kinkade,” he said as he tugged Jude into the shower with him. “Luckily for you, I always aim to please.”

\---------

Zero posted a picture on his Instagram later (much, much later) that morning. It was a close up of Jude’s new tattoo with Zero’s hand resting possessively over it, captioned simply, _Happy birthday to me_ and accompanied with the hashtag _#mine_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's amazing how what I envisioned as a short little fic of three chapters eventually evolved into this. Thank you to everyone who has commented and left kudos. You guys are the best. :D


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